An Engagement Of Convenience

“Not much,” Lili confessed, “although I knew he was still upset. For that matter, so was I.” She frowned. “Until today, whenever he visited the studio, I was sure he was trying to satisfy his artistic side.”

“Tom, an artist? No way,” Rita scoffed. “All the man seems interested in is the way the magazine’s circulation is going through the roof after he published those rules of Lucas’s.”

Rita was right, Lili thought. Not that she blamed Tom. Lucas Sullivan was a sociologist and Tom’s long-time friend. After his six recommendations to guarantee a happy marriage—Sullivan’s Rules—were published in Today’s World, the magazine sold more copies than in its entire history. But there had been an even more delightful result as well—Lucas had fallen in love and married Lili’s friend April, his editor.

“I would love to have seen the expression on his face when he caught you working on another one of those fliers,” April said.

“He didn’t look happy. He warned me to stop, but not before he practically took the piece of charcoal out of my hand and filled in the eyebrows on my sketch.”

“Get outta here!” Rita exclaimed. “I didn’t think the man had a sense of humor. But if you really are interested in him, I hope you took the time to talk about something besides work.”

“No.” Lili doubted Tom had been interested in a personal conversation. “I’m afraid it was all business.”

Rita tossed her empty paper cup into a wastebasket. “All this time I thought you wanted him to notice you…to get to know you.”

“Well, he did notice me, but not in the way I would have wished,” Lili admitted.

Rita threw up her hands. “I can’t believe you wasted such a great opportunity to get personal. Now, if it had been me and I hadn’t already met my Colby, I would have…” She stopped and grinned happily. “What happened then?”

“Not much. He told me I should stick to business during working hours.”

“Well, I suppose any conversation is a start. Although I think you could at least have cracked a joke or two about having been caught.”

“A joke?” Lili said doubtfully. “Mr. Eldridge is always so serious, I’m not sure he has a sense of humor.”

“Sure he does.” April broke in with a laugh. “He managed to bring Lucas and me together when I was Lucas’s editor. Considering the way Lucas and I disagreed about those rules of his, only Tom could have thought the two of us belonged together.”

Rita sniffed. “From what I’ve seen, Tom’s a man without a romantic bone in his body. Just what is it that attracts you to him anyway, Lili?”

“Well, to begin with, his eyes.” Lili smiled as she also remembered Tom’s deep, husky voice—even if he had been telling her off. “I know neither of you thinks Mr. Eldridge is sexy, but I do.”

“Ha!” Rita scoffed. “Don’t get me wrong, Lili. I’m the first to respect Tom for the way he’s brought the magazine’s circulation around. But if the man’s sexy, then I’m the tooth fairy.”

April waved her hand in warning as other members of the staff began to drift back from lunch. “Don’t worry, Lili. Knowing how decent a man Tom really is, I’m convinced he won’t stay angry with you for long. If you want us to help, I’m sure we can figure out a way to keep the center open without causing a riot.”

“I agree,” Rita said airily. “I might need to use the center myself someday.”

Lili gaped at her. “You are expecting a baby already?”

Unabashed, Rita grinned. “You might say I’m working on it.” She turned to April. “What about you?”

April laughed and shook her head. “Not for a while. Lucas and I are busy researching a new slant on his old study about the mating game.”

“It’s about time,” Rita said. “Anyone who believes in his rules about the subservient way a woman ought to behave toward a man in the twenty-first century should have their head examined. As for you, Lili, I actually think Tom has more ‘Sullivan’ traits in him than most men do. Maybe what he needs is someone like you to show him what women really want.”

“Just look at Colby and you, Rita,” April teased. “The poor man had to get himself shot before he realized he loves you just the way you are—the way you’ve been ever since you were kids back in Texas. Still—” April winked at Lili “—maybe it’s too much to expect you to take Rita’s advice about Tom.”

“Sheesh,” Rita grumbled. “I didn’t tell her to…well, not exactly. I just told her to do something to try to get Tom’s attention.”

“Yeah, I remember that conversation,” April said dryly. “But it’s what you suggested Lili do that was the problem. No matter how you put it, your advice boiled down to sex, sex and more sex!”

Instead of denying April’s accusation, Rita looked pleased with herself. “It was all talk, I swear, but the truth is,” she added with a wicked grin, “making love with Colby instead of talking was what finally worked for me. You have to remember, Lili, you’re never going to really get Tom’s attention if you keep calling him Mr. Eldridge instead of just Tom, the way the rest of us do.”

“I know,” Lili said wistfully. “I find it difficult to be familiar with him without an invitation. After all, he is my boss.”

“And he’s all business when he’s at work,” Rita added. “If you’re ever going to catch his interest, you’ll have to spread a little honey instead of making fliers.”

“Maybe the problem is that you actually believe in Sullivan’s Rules, Lili,” April interjected. “You’ve already told us you were brought up to believe that a woman’s role in a relationship is actually a lot like Lucas’s rules for marriage.”

“It is true,” Lili agreed. “The women in my family were taught from childhood to defer to their father, then their husband. I know it sounds very old-fashioned compared to the way women here in the United States think, but it is different in my country. Especially for a girl like myself, who was raised by her grandmother.”

“Then you and Tom ought to get along just fine,” Rita said soothingly. “I think he actually believes in Sullivan’s Rules. Provided you get over your shyness, and if you can do something to get him to see you’re a mixture of the woman in Lucas’s article and today’s woman, you’ll be okay.”

“Rita’s right,” April agreed. “All Tom needs is to realize you’re almost as old-fashioned about men as he is about women.” She paused to look critically at Lili. “Or are you really an old-fashioned woman? Sometimes when I see the look in your eyes, I think there are hidden depths within you.”

Lili blushed as she recalled her physical reaction to Tom whenever he was near. “Maybe so.”

“Yeah.” Rita grinned. “Personally, I believe that most rules are made to be broken—including Sullivan’s.”

Wide-eyed, Lili shook her head. “I do not want to do anything to make Mr. Eldridge more angry. I need his help to postpone the management meeting.”

“Actually, you don’t have to break Sullivan’s Rules,” Rita said. “All you have to do is bend them a little to make them work for you. Heck, if I hadn’t bent a couple, I wouldn’t be with Colby now.”

“There are so many rules to remember,” Lili said as Arthur, the office gofer, came around the corner pushing his refreshment cart. The last thing she wanted was for her situation to become office gossip. “Which of Sullivan’s Rules are you talking about?” she whispered.

“Rule number five, or for that matter, all of them,” Rita replied, carefully eyeing Arthur’s progress down the hall. “They all seem to advise a woman to try to make a man feel masculine.”

Lili’s eyes widened. “How?”

“By showing him how much you like and appreciate him,” April said.

Rita leaned closer to Lili. “Of course, it’s only part of rule five you need to think about. I’m sure you realize from your own experience that if you sublimate your own desires and allow things to happen naturally, you’re never going to get anywhere with a man like Tom.”

As Lili nodded solemnly, the subject of their conversation approached them. The three women froze.

“Good morning, ladies,” Tom said amiably as he eyed Lili. “I hope this is a business meeting.”

With that not-so-subtle warning, and without waiting for an answer, he raised an eyebrow and walked away.

TOM FELT THREE PAIRS of disapproving eyes boring into his back as he walked down the hall. If not for Lili’s crusade, he wouldn’t have thought about the survival of the day care center. He actually felt sorry about the situation, but it was out of his hands.

Besides, beyond polite conversation, or, he admitted reluctantly, sometimes not so polite conversation, fraternizing with his staff outside office hours had been a no-no ever since he’d taken over as publisher. His father may have considered all his employees as one big happy family, but not him. It only led to trouble. Lili was a case in point.

Besides, managing the magazine took most of his waking hours. The last thing he needed was to have Riverview’s management raise the figures on his lease agreement or, perish the thought, cancel the lease when it came up for renewal next month.

If only the magazine’s annual employee picnic wasn’t coming up next Sunday, he would have felt easier about the future. If he’d read Lili’s determined body language correctly, he was going to have to listen to a hell of a lot of arguments from her about keeping the day care open, and the picnic would provide her with the perfect opportunity to corner him.

TOM PASTED A SMILE on his face as he politely greeted employees arriving for Today’s World’s annual picnic. In no time, the magazine’s staff, their families and friends were scattered over the lush green meadow in Lincoln Park, enjoying games and each other’s company. Overhead, the sky was cloudless, and the temperature had climbed into the seventies.